The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko), which is responsible for vaccination recommendations in Germany, has a new chairman: the virologist Klaus Überla. The doctor is director of the Virological Institute at the University Hospital Erlangen and the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced that the resident gynecologist Marianne Röbl-Mathieu was elected as his deputy by the responsible committee this week. Both have been members of Stiko since 2017.
The committee was largely reorganized this year and met for the first joint meeting on March 12th and 13th. The Federal Ministry of Health regularly appointed new members of the voluntary committee. 14 of the 19 members are starting their first term in office. The former chairman, virologist Thomas Mertens, has left.
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The major personnel changes had been announced for some time. As a result, the appointment period was also limited to a maximum of three periods of three years each. This is intended to help ensure the independence of the committee, as the ministry said. “For the first time, experts from the disciplines of mathematical modeling, communication science and geriatrics are represented in this appointment period,” explained the RKI. As before, immunologists, virologists, microbiologists, pediatricians, gynecologists as well as general and occupational physicians are represented there.
Covid-19 remains a focus of Stiko’s work
The Standing Vaccination Commission consists of independent, volunteer experts from various disciplines. Its task is to develop vaccination recommendations for the population in Germany and to adapt them to new vaccine developments and research findings. During the corona pandemic, Stiko and its then chairman Mertens were particularly in the public eye.
In terms of content, the Commission says it will initially retain the thematic areas it has previously prioritized. Accordingly, the members want to continue working on prevention strategies for special viruses (RSV) as well as vaccinations against influenza, Covid-19, meningococci and pneumococci.
The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko), which is responsible for vaccination recommendations in Germany, has a new chairman: the virologist Klaus Überla. The doctor is director of the Virological Institute at the University Hospital Erlangen and the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced that the resident gynecologist Marianne Röbl-Mathieu was elected as his deputy by the responsible committee this week. Both have been members of Stiko since 2017.